There are few things I hate worse than getting locked out for entering the wrong password too many times.

And the whole “Can’t remember your password? Answer this questionnaire and we’ll email you to reset it!” process is just as obnoxious.

But as we all know by now, there are hackers working full-time to steal your information, so it's important to keep them at bay. We've just got to know how.

I spoke with Lysa Myers, a security researcher at international IT security company ESET and a 16-year veteran of the cybersecurity industry, to get the lowdown on what not to do and what simple steps can keep you in the clear.

Because as annoying as the whole "password lockdown" process is, being hacked is much, much worse.

Call me a cyber novice, but this one blew my mind. On the black market, where cybercriminals sell information to one another, Facebook or Gmail login credentials could fetch more than a credit card number.

Here’s why, Myers says: “If they get access to your email contacts and they send an email saying ‘oh my God, I’m in trouble. You need to send me $5,000,’ the scam is much more believable when it comes from somebody you know.”

And that means better odds that they can hack even more accounts.

In fact, credit card numbers alone are only worth about $2 to $3, Myers says, not the hundreds of dollars you’d suspect. The price goes up if hackers also are able to track down the cardholder’s address, phone number and name.